Cooking Simple Meals with Coastal Ingredients

Buying Well at the Coast

The best coastal cooking starts with a short shopping list and a fishmonger you trust. Almost every seaside town has a quayside stall, a harbour-side shop or a van at the end of the pier, and the person behind the counter will happily tell you what came off the boat that morning if you ask.

Buy shellfish live and use your senses before you pay. Mussels and clams should be tightly shut, or should snap closed when you tap them. Crabs and lobsters should feel heavy for their size, with a firm, dry shell and all their legs. Smoked fish should look glossy and firm, never wet or weeping.

• Mussels and clams: excellent from September to April, though rope-grown mussels are good all year round.
• Native oysters: September to April only — never in a month without an R.
• Scallops: October to March, sold in the shell or as dry-packed, roe-on meats.
• Brown crab and lobster: crab from April to October, lobster in the warmer months.
• Marsh samphire: May to August, when the stems are bright green and crisp.
• Dulse and laver: autumn and winter, after the first proper gales.

Mussels: The Simplest Coastal Supper

If you learn one coastal dish, make it a pot of mussels. A kilo feeds two generously, costs very little and takes under fifteen minutes from fridge to table.

Rinse the mussels under cold running water and pull away any beards. Discard any that stay open after a sharp tap, and any with cracked shells. Heat a large lidded pan, melt a good knob of butter and soften two finely chopped shallots with a clove of garlic for a few minutes. Pour in 150ml of dry cider or white wine and let it bubble hard for a minute.

Tip in the mussels, clamp on the lid and cook over a high heat for four to five minutes, shaking the pan once or twice. They are done the moment the shells open. Throw in a handful of chopped parsley, a spoonful of cream if you fancy it, and plenty of black pepper. Discard any that remain shut. Serve with crusty bread and nothing else — the broth is the point.

Sea Vegetables Without the Fuss

Sea vegetables carry their own seasoning, so taste before you reach for the salt cellar.

Marsh samphire needs only a quick rinse, a minute in boiling water, then a toss in butter with a squeeze of lemon. Cook it briefly or it turns to mush. It is superb alongside grilled mackerel or piled on buttered toast.

Dulse is the cook's friend. Fry a handful in a little rapeseed oil over a medium heat until it crisps and darkens — two or three minutes at most — and it becomes a salty, savoury crisp that lifts scrambled eggs, potatoes or a bowl of rice. Keep a paper towel-lined plate ready, because it goes from crisp to bitter in seconds.

Laver is the Welsh classic, sold as laverbread. Mix it with fine oatmeal, shape into small patties and fry in bacon fat until crisp at the edges. Serve with cockles, a squeeze of lemon and thick toast.

Scallops and Crab, Treated Gently

Scallops ask for two things: a very hot pan and dry surfaces. Pat them thoroughly with kitchen paper, season lightly and sear in a little oil for about ninety seconds each side. Add butter, a crushed garlic clove and a sprig of thyme at the end and spoon the foaming butter over them. Any longer and you have rubber.

Picked brown crab needs almost nothing. Fold the white meat through hot pasta with lemon zest, chilli and olive oil, or pile it onto toast with a little mayonnaise and black pepper. If you buy a whole cooked crab, ask the fishmonger to dress it, then keep the brown meat for toast and the white for salads.

Smoked Fish Beyond the Plate

Locally smoked fish is a shortcut to flavour, and it keeps for days in the fridge.

• Hot-smoked mackerel or salmon: flake into fishcakes, fold through potato salad, or stir into a creamy pasta with peas and dill.
• Cold-smoked salmon: layer onto buttered soda bread with cream cheese, capers and lemon.
• Smoked haddock: poach gently in milk with a bay leaf, then use the milk for a chowder, or serve the fish with a poached egg on top.
• Smoked trout: excellent in a simple pâté whizzed with soft butter, lemon and horseradish.

A Simple Coastal Menu

If you are cooking for friends at a seaside cottage, keep it short and seasonal. Begin with cold-smoked salmon on buttered soda bread. Follow with a big pot of mussels cooked in cider, a bowl of buttered samphire and plenty of bread for dipping. Finish with a plain lemon posset or simply a plate of shortbread and strong tea.

Shop in the morning, cook in the afternoon, and let the ingredients do the talking. That is coastal eating at its best — unfussy, generous and tasting of the shore a few hundred yards away.